


Once and Future King

by drag0nlord



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Arthurian, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future, Future Fic, Gen, Immortal Merlin, M/M, Merthur - Freeform, One Shot, bbc merlin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2014-02-06
Packaged: 2018-01-11 08:24:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1170851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drag0nlord/pseuds/drag0nlord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin works as a waiter in modern-day England and he runs into an old friend.<br/>This is a one-shot but I may add more chapters because I have some ideas.<br/>Merthur if you squint. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once and Future King

About a century after the death of King Arthur, Camelot fell. It was not seized by a neighboring kingdom, nor was it demolished in a great war. It simply burned out. The government weakened and the people left. What was once the most powerful kingdom in Albion became an unknown dot on the map. There was only one in all the land who remembered the greatness that once was Camelot. Only one who had known the mighty King Arthur. His name? Merlin.

-

A small restaurant sat in a small town on a small hill in Devon. Merlin balanced a tray of food with his left arm and held two glasses of soda in his right hand. He carefully navigated around the tables until he arrived at the booth of a young couple. After placing their orders on the table, he ran a hand through his dark hair and breathed a sigh of relief. He awaited the day when he’d trip over his own feet and send dishes of food flying – that’d be just his luck. As he headed back toward the kitchen, something in the window caught his eye. For a moment he was sure he’d seen the glint of a knight’s armor. Blinking, he decided it was just a trick of the light and returned to his work. Surely it couldn’t have been Arthur. After hundreds of years of waiting, Merlin had all but given up hope on the king ever returning. Though it had been foretold centuries ago, Merlin feared that it would never happen. Or worse, that he had somehow missed it.

To tell the truth, Merlin tried not to think about Arthur. They had been best friends- Merlin was always at Arthur’s side. He may have been the king’s servant, but Arthur treated him as an equal. He treated all of his subjects as equals, which was one of his most valiant features. He could be a prat- Merlin of all people knew that- but he was a great king. Some, such as Merlin, even say he was the greatest king Great Britain has ever known. The death of King Arthur took a great toll on the nation, and an even greater toll on Merlin. He had cared more about the king than he’d ever admit, and so apart of him had died with Arthur.

“Are you alright?” Eloise asked him worriedly. To Merlin’s embarrassment, he realized he had been staring out the window for a number of minutes.

“Sorry, I just spaced out for a bit,” Merlin apologized.

“What’s on your mind, love?”

“I was remembering an old friend.”

Eloise gave him a solemn nod of understanding. “What happened to them?”

Merlin glanced down at his feet. Fifteen hundred years and yet it still hurt like it was yesterday.

“He left,” Merlin said. “But he’s coming back.” This last remark was purely for his own benefit.

“If you want my advice, don’t wait around for him to come back. Go find him and bring him back yourself,” Eloise gave him a reassuring smile that Merlin couldn’t help but return.

“I wish it were that easy,” he replied wistfully. He had been all around the world searching for any sign of Arthur and when none appeared, he had returned home to England. A part of him realized that there was still hope, because he hadn’t aged since Arthur’s death. Merlin was still the same young man who had lived within the palace walls of Camelot all those years ago. This long-lasting youth wasn’t an effect of Merlin’s own magic,so he knew there was something much bigger at play.

“Why don’t you take the evening off?” The sound of Eloise’s voice stirred Merlin back to the present. He met her concern-filled eyes and let out a ‘thanks’ as he returned his apron to the coat rack and headed out the door.

-

As soon as the diner was out of view, Merlin muttered an incantation that left him standing among large ruins. The scattered stones and piles of rubble that lay around him were all that remained of the city of Camelot.

“O drakon, e mala soiftengomethtesd’hupanankes! Erkheo,” Merlin called. In response, a handful of dragons appeared in the sky and landed beside the warlock. He picked up a small one with silver scales and stroked its underbelly.

“Hello all,” Merlin said in dragon tongue. Most of the creatures were quite young, and did not fully understand Merlin yet. Still, he spoke to them as though they knew exactly what he was saying. These were the only dragons left in all the world. Merlin had travelled far to acquire the last of the dragon eggs and then he had called them forth from their slumber. The only one as old as Merlin himself was Aithusa, but oddly enough she was nowhere to be seen. Being a Dragonlord, Merlin had persuasion over all dragons. It was impossible for any of them to ignore his call. He waited, yet still Aithusa did not appear.

A golden hue shone in Merlin’s eyes as he summoned his magic. A thousand images flashed in his mind as he searched for Aithusa with his wizard sight. It was only a matter of moments before he discovered the dragon- she stood on the shores of the Lake of Avalon, staring out over the calm waters. Merlin cleared his mind and appeared beside Aithusa seconds later.

“When Albion’s need is greatest, Arthur will rise again,” Aithusa echoed the words spoken by the Great Dragon, Kilgarrah, on the final day of Arthur Pendragon. “The prophecies of old shall come to pass on this day.”

Merlin’s breath caught in his throat when he noticed a ripple on the surface of the lake. The water stirred as something broke the surface; a familiar figure ascended from the depths. Merlin tried to call out but the words escaped him. The figure, clad in full armor, walked across the water with ease. As he reached the shore, he placed a hand on Merlin’s shoulder.

“Hello, old friend,” he said. Tears welled in Merlin’s eyes at the sound of a voice he’d feared he’d never hear again.

“Arthur,” Merlin said in a small voice. The king smiled reassuringly, carefully regarding Merlin’s tears.

“I take it I’ve been gone awhile?”

Merlin gave him a look of disbelief and then let out a small laugh.

“You’re still a royal ass,” Merlin teased.

Arthur leaned close and tightly embraced his friend.

“Always will be,” he replied.


End file.
